


Miniature Disasters

by muses_circle, xtremeroswellian



Series: Two Guys, a Girl and a Chevy Impala [16]
Category: Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Awkwardness, Body Swap, F/M, Humor, Meteor Rocks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24078244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muses_circle/pseuds/muses_circle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: When Chloe and Sarah wake up in one another's bodies, they call for outside help to figure out what the hell is going on.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Sam Winchester, Chloe Sullivan & Sarah Blake, Chloe Sullivan/Dean Winchester, Hints of Oliver Queen/Jo Harvelle, Sarah Blake/Sam Winchester
Series: Two Guys, a Girl and a Chevy Impala [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722754
Kudos: 1





	Miniature Disasters

Chloe woke up slowly, groaning softly as her lower back ached. Sighing, she kept her eyes shut, snuggling closer to Dean and burying her face against his chest. She frowned as her head didn't settle immediately into the spot she usually fell asleep on and then slowly lifted her head up, her eyes widening as she found herself gazing down at a half-naked Sam. 

She screamed. 

The high-pitched scream awoke Sam from a sound slumber, the likes of which he hadn't had in several days. Riding around in an over-crowded car had taken a toll on Sarah's health and consequently his peace of mind. He shot up and turned to her, saw the terror written in her eyes, and tried to cup her cheek. "Sarah," he whispered softly. When she jerked back, he frowned. "Another nightmare?" 

"What the hell is going on?" Chloe scrambled out of bed and away from him, yanking a robe off the chair and quickly tying it around her. 

Confusion was written clearly over Sam's face. "I don't know, Sarah, but this isn't good for the baby." He stared at her growing belly and felt the warmth of fatherhood descend on him for a moment. He slipped out of bed and looked around for his boxers. 

"Oh my God." She quickly turned away, covering her eyes with both hands. "Put some clothes on!" 

"Why?" he asked, an odd look on his face. "If anything, you like me naked." He fumbled for his boxers and slipped them on to placate her, then crossed the room to take her in his arms. 

"Gah! Touching!" She quickly dodged away from him. 

Sam watched with a glint of amusement in his eye when she moved to the other side of the hotel room. "You know, you're beautiful when you're playing hard to get," he remarked with the lop-sided grin he knew made her melt. 

"Hard to get? What the hell, Sam?" She stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "Is this some kind of Winchester prank? Where the hell is Sarah? And Dean?" 

Sam froze in his tracks and the room got very still. His eyes narrowed as he took in Sarah's pregnant form pressed against the furthest corner of the room, as if she didn't think she belonged there. "Wha--? Prank?" He shook his head. "Dean's next door with Chloe, Sarah. You know that. And why are you referring to yourself in the third person?" Dean God, had the baby done something to his wife's mind? Had the yellow-eyed demon decided to make its move with them again? 

"Okay, my name isn't Sarah," she said slowly. "It's Chloe. Now what the hell is going on? Did we get really drunk last night?" 

"No, you don't drink because of the baby, remember?" He crossed his arms across his naked, muscular chest and frowned. "And what's with the role-reversal, anyway? I have no idea what you're talking about." 

"You don't know what I'm talking about?" She snorted, shaking her head. "Okay, clearly something happened overnight and your mind's not working the way it's supposed to. Repeat after me slowly: I am not Sarah, I'm Chloe." 

He paled a little and took a step towards her. "No, Chloe is next door. You just had a nightmare and I'm trying to calm you down." He took another step towards Sarah but she shrank back into the shadows. 

"I didn't have a nightmare, Sam!" She was starting to grow annoyed and she moved out of the corner and started to head for the door, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her face paled as she froze, staring at her long dark hair and into the very blue eyes of her best friend. "Holy shit." 

Sam watched, frozen to his spot, as he watched Sarah touch her cheeks and hair, like she had never seen herself before. And by the time her hands reached her stomach, the shock had turned to dismay... which sent Sam running for some clothes. "What is going on?" he said out loud. 

"I think I'm gonna throw up." 

Sam threw on jeans and a t-shirt. "Not surprising, since you have morning sickness at least four times a week." 

"Well, isn't that just fantastic," she said sarcastically, quickly heading into the bathroom. The blood was pounding in her ears. How the hell had she gotten in Sarah's body? And did that mean Sarah was in her body? A distant scream from the next room confirmed her suspicions. 

Sarah seemed more sarcastic than usual tonight: in fact, she sounded a lot like... "Chloe?" he asked hesitantly before barreling to the connecting door and pounding on it hard. 

"Duh," she grumbled, emptying the contents of her stomach--no, Sarah's stomach--into the toilet. 

"What the hell?" he asked under his breath as he pounded on the connecting door so hard it nearly split in half. And when Dean suddenly appeared in the opening, he looked as freaked out as he felt.

"Dude, I gotta talk to you," the brothers chimed together. 

Chloe groaned, laying her head on the toilet seat for a moment before flushing the toilet and slowly rising to her feet. Her eyes watered as she spotted Dean. She quickly moved to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly and burying her face against his chest. 

Dean froze as Sam's wife embraced him. "What the hell?" he growled stiffly, his eyes dark and angry.

"Sam!" Sarah had found some clothes and put them on, tears in her eyes when she saw herself hugging Dean. Her hands automatically went to her stomach and felt... nothing. She headed for Sam tearfully. 

"Dude, what the hell is going on?" Sam swallowed hard as Chloe's small form wrapped around him. 

"I don't know," he bit out, "but your wife has lost her damn mind." He glared at Chloe wrapped around Sam's frame. 

Chloe pulled away from Dean, looking up at him with Sarah's clear, iridescent eyes. "Dean, I'm not Sarah. I'm Chloe. In Sarah's body. I don't know how it happened, but--" 

"--I went to sleep in your arms and woke up next to..." Sarah shuddered and looked down at Chloe's body. 

"Hey, Chloe's never had a problem with it," Dean pointed out. 

"The problem is she's not Chloe," Sam murmured, looking down at the small blonde in front of him and somehow knowing it was actually Sarah. "Are you?" 

She touched his cheek and frowned. "No, Sam. It's me, Sarah." She saw the wariness in his eyes and her legs became wobbly. "Do I need to verbally prove it, because there are some stories I could tell that Dean'll never let you forget." 

"Let's not," he said quickly, wrapping his arms around her and looking at Dean with wide eyes. 

He looked at Sam and smirked. "I don't know. Maybe she should, just in case." He felt a small hand hit in square in the gut and laughed. He looked down into blue eyes but saw Chloe there. "Kidding! And did anyone mention... awkward?"

"That doesn't even cover it," Sarah grumbled and looked at her own body. "Any moment now, I'll wake up. Really, any time now." 

Chloe winced a little as a wave of nausea swept over her. "This is beyond weird even for me." 

"You okay?" she whispered and moved towards her body. Chloe... no, Chloe in her body... didn't look well at all. Sarah knew it was the baby and her eyes grew wide. What would happen with the child? she thought wildly.

"Sam, how did this happen?" Dean demanded. 

"I have no idea," Sam said, raking a hand through his hair and eyeing his wife's body uncertainly. "Chloe? You all right?" 

She grimaced and headed for the bathroom once more, pressing a hand against her stomach. 

"It's the baby," Sarah whispered and followed her own retreating figure to the bathroom.

Dean watched them go and frowned. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that their women... weren't. "Dude, we have to fix this. Quickly." He rubbed a hand over his face and paled at a further thought: what was Jo going to say? 

"God. I forgot about Jo." Sam let out a breath and glanced toward the bathroom. "You're right. We have to figure this out fast." 

"Because she sure as hell doesn't need to know about this." 

At that moment there was a knock on the door and Sam groaned. "Well there went that idea." 

_Please, Sam, don't answer the door,_ Sarah though quickly. She looked pained as Chloe suffered through a rough bout of pregnancy sickness. 

_I won't,_ he thought back, glancing at his brother. 

"Hey, don't look at me," Dean protested quietly and heard another knock on the door. A herd of brain-eating zombies, if they existed, couldn't make him answer it. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced towards the bathroom. _How is she, Sarah?_

_Sick, Dean. What do you think?_

_You realize I can hear all of you still, right?_ Chloe thought, shuddering as she finally leaned back against the bathtub. 

Jo clearly hadn't gotten the picture, because she was still knocking on the door. Dean grimaced but said nothing more out loud. _I know you can hear us, Chloe, but you were too busy puking to answer._

 _For God sake...don't just let her stand on the doorstep guys,_ she thought, feeling uncharacteristically irritated by their inaction. 

_But Chloe,_ Dean protested silently. He didn't want to deal with her. This was a little more pressing.

 _Sam, please, open the door,_ Sarah begged. _We'll stay in here and try to figure out what happened._

Sighing softly, Sam headed for the door, unlocking it and pulling it open, forcing himself to smile. "Hey, Jo." 

"Sam." Jo nodded slowly, her eyes curious and concerned. "Everything okay? I thought I heard screaming." 

"Heh." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, everything's fine. Sarah's...you know, morning sickness." He grimaced. 

"That's funny, because I thought this was Dean's room." The younger girl raised an eyebrow at Sam uncertainly.

Dean cleared his throat. "Sam's in here because Chloe's... helping Sarah. It's a chick thing." He stared at Jo and smiled a little. 

"Right," Sam said, nodding quickly. 

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at herself. No, at Sarah. She let out a breath. "This is insane." 

"Tell me about it," Sarah whispered and wiped down... for the moment Chloe's face... carefully. "Do you remember... anything? At all?" She shuddered when she recalled waking up in the arms of another man. 

She grimaced. "Just waking up and finding myself in the wrong bed with the wrong Winchester." 

"Which was gross," Sarah replied automatically and then flinched. "Sorry, but you know what I mean." 

"I know what you mean," she responded without hesitation, shuddering. 

Sighing, Sarah touched her stomach and rubbed the baby a little. "Is the baby... do you think... did he do this?" She had no other explanation for it though it caused her a great deal of pain to utter it. 

"No," Chloe said without hesitation, shaking her head. 

Sarah sighed and looked down; the unshed tears streaked down her cheeks. "Okay, then we have to figure out what's going on, because they..." she pointed towards the Winchesters "... are way too freaked out about... this." She looked down and saw Chloe's body. 

"Hell, I'm pretty freaked out about this." She motioned between them. 

She nodded. "Me, too. You're in my body and I'm in yours. I... my brain... I can't think about how this happened." She put a hand to her head and shut her eyes in pain. 

Chloe winced, as well, shutting her own eyes. "We need to go over every single thing we both did last night before we went to bed." 

"Yeah." Sarah tapped into her memory to the night before. Everything had seemed normal. She had gone through her usual routine of unpacking her bath stuff and nightclothes. She ran a bath and was all too pleased to have Sam join her at one point -- 

"Ack, Sarah. I didn't need to know anything that specific!" 

Sarah smirked. "Sorry, Chloe. Got a little carried away." She put up her mental barrier for a moment, just long enough to realize nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "No, nothing. We got ready for bed and then went to bed." She opened her eyes and looked into her own face, which wigged her out to no end. "You?" 

"Pretty much the same routine, minus the erotic bath fun," she said wryly. 

"Okay, good to know," she blushed. "This is going to sound... What made you wake up?" 

"My back was killing me." 

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "So was mine." 

Chloe stared at her. "Well that's too odd to be a coincidence." 

She nodded and touched her spine carefully. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but when I woke up I felt like it was... on fire." No, this wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't be. 

"Stand up, Sarah," she whispered, gazing at her intently. 

Her knees wobbled but she managed to stand up. She looked down at Chloe and frowned. "Got a theory?" she whispered. 

"Maybe. Turn around." Swallowing hard, Chloe rose up on her knees and carefully slid the shirt Sarah was wearing up. Sure enough there was a small red mark at the base of her spine. "Shit." 

"Oh no, please don't tell me we were doused with something." Sarah looked back and frowned. 

"One way to be sure." Chloe stood up slowly and turned away from Sarah, pulling the back of her shirt up a little. "Is there anything there?" 

Sarah crouched down and touched the base of the spine... and felt a tiny circular bump on the skin. "Crap, it's a puncture mark," she whispered. 

"Which means someone or something was in both of our rooms last night and injected us with God knows what." She forced herself to take a deep breath to calm the rising sense of panic she felt. 

Sarah wrapped her arms around her waist and deep down mourned the flatness of her stomach. _Our door was locked and latched, Chloe,_ she thought. _So I'm going with something._

Chloe shuddered involuntarily. _We gotta talk to the guys._ She quickly stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room where the guys were talking to Jo. 

Dean caught a flash out of the corner of his eye and looked at Sarah. No, Chloe. "Hey... Sarah," Dean fumbled lightly. 

Jo looked at the brunette's pale face and looked over at Sam. "Wasn't she supposed to be in your room? 

Sighing heavily, Chloe ran a hand over her face and looked at Jo. "Long story short, somehow Sarah and I pulled a body swap overnight. She's in my body, and I'm in hers." 

Jo looked startled for a moment before amusement entered her eyes. "And that's the reason I'm guessing these two have been fumbling over their words the last ten minutes?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied and glanced at Sam. _Honey, we have a major problem._

"Pretty much." She looked at Dean. We think the demon injected us with something that caused this. 

Dean stared at Sarah's face but spoke to Jo. "Can you excuse us, please?" he spoke flatly.

Jo looked at the four of them and knew something was going on between them. It seemed like they understood each other on a much deeper level, and she had often felt like the outsider she was. Maybe she shouldn't have come with them. But looking between Chloe and Sarah, she felt the atmosphere in the room thick with worry. "Sure, as long as everything's okay," she replied lamely.

Sarah glanced at the young girl. "Depends on your definition of 'okay'." 

Chloe offered her a small smile. "We may need your help before this is over," she warned her. 

Sam looked at her in surprise, taken aback once more at how easily Chloe was dealing with having Jo around. 

Jo looked at the brunette and heard Chloe there, though it was Sarah's face. "This is really, really strange," she muttered and turned for the door.

Dean watched her walk outside and sighed. "Tell me about it." He glanced at Sarah in Chloe's skin and grimaced. "Awkward would be a better word."

Sarah noticed the heat in Dean's eyes and looked down, a blush spreading across her cheeks. 

Chloe sighed, raking a hand through Sarah's long, dark tresses. "We're gonna need help on this one." Her voice was grim. 

"What clued you in on that bright observation?" Dean grumbled under his breath and looked away towards the connecting door.

"She's right, Dean," Sarah continued. "Something made us switch bodies in the night." Her gaze slid to Sam, but he wasn't looking at her, either.

"What do you mean... something?" he demanded. 

"We were both injected with something. At the base of our spines. It's why I woke up," Chloe told him. "My back was killing me." 

Sam stared at her for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Sarah. "And the same thing happened to you?" 

Sarah nodded, momentarily startled by the straight blonde hair that fell over her eyes. "We have the puncture wounds to show for it."

Dean stood up and immediately said, "Let us see." 

Talk about awkward, Chloe thought grimly, looking at Sarah uncomfortably. 

"Forget it, Winchester," Sarah replied firmly. "Just trust us on it, okay? And I think... Chloe and I should share a room until we can get back into each others' bodies." It pained her to say it, but she couldn't handle being in a room with her husband looking like her best friend. 

"I agree," Chloe said, grimacing a little as she looked at Dean. 

Dean put his head in his hands and let out a frustrated breath. "Yeah, it's for the best right now," he whispered. 

"I'm gonna call Oliver Queen," Chloe said grimly, heading over to the telephone. 

"Oh God," Dean groaned and stood up. "I think he has better things to do than clean up our mess. Don't you?" The last person he wanted to see was Clark Kent, too, but he wouldn't voice that out loud.

"Dean, we have to," Sarah protested quietly. "If we've been injected with something, maybe he can figure out with what." 

Chloe stared at Dean, her stomach tightening at his reaction. "Besides that, he has access to scientists who may be able to help." 

Sam sighed, resigned. "Dude, they're right. We don't have the resources to even start looking for an answer..." He froze for a moment, eyes wide as saucers.

"Sam?" Sarah asked and hesitantly walked towards him. "What is it?" 

She felt dread wash over her. "Oh, God. What?" 

_What if the demon has something to do with this?_

Dean turned and looked at Sam, horrified. "The hell?" 

Chloe bit her lip. _We already had that thought. If it wasn't **the** demon, it was some kind of demon or spirit. The doors were all locked. It couldn't have been a person. _

Sam wouldn't be surprised if it had been the yellow-eyed demon working with Lex Luthor. Hadn't the ghost of those children warned Sarah to be prepared? "Okay, make the call, Chlo," he whispered and glanced at Dean. "We'll... move rooms."

Dean rolled his eyes but grabbed his bag. "And where am I going to sleep, dude? That's a king-sized bed next door."

Sam smirked as he passed through the connecting door. "Heard the floor's mighty comfortable." 

Chloe shook her head a little and picked up the telephone, quickly dialing the familiar number and waiting as it began to ring. "Come on, pick up." 

Sarah found a chair and sank into it, her face crumbling into worry. She played with her empty wedding ring finger and wanted to cry. She was worried about Chloe, the baby... Sam. And all of it was giving her a headache.

Miles away, Oliver's cell chirped loudly, just as he was adjourning a meeting with the rest of the League members. "Chloe," he replied with a smile. 

"Houston, we have a problem." 

Oliver frowned. "Sarah? What's wrong?" he asked sharply and turned his back on the rest of the crew. 

"Actually it's Chloe. In Sarah's body." 

He blinked. Twice. Then turned around to the guys and mouthed that he'd be right back. "Okay, you care to explain how that happened?" 

"I would love to if I knew, though I have a theory. And it's a demon." 

He chuckled. "Okay, you sound like a really poorly written movie line. Explain to me what happened." 

"We woke up this morning and discovered we weren't quite ourselves. We each have a small puncture mark at the bottom of our spines. We're pretty sure a demon--possibly the demon...injected us with something to cause this switch." 

He stifled a laugh. "And I bet the Winchesters are having a blast with that, aren't they?" 

"Oliver, this isn't funny," she said, narrowing her eyes. 

He could almost feel the disdain through the phone but grinned. "Actually, from where I'm standing, it sounds pretty amusing." 

"Yeah, well FYI, Sarah's pregnant which means right now I'm pregnant and I'm hormonal and if you laugh you better hide because when I find you I will kick your green ass." 

"Ohh, watch it. You'd have to catch me first, and I'm still faster than you, pregnant or not." 

"Yeah but you're not faster than Bart. Or Clark. And I'm willing to bet if I asked nicely they'd bring you right to me." She smirked. 

"Maybe Bart, because he's so desperate," Oliver smiled at the youngest member, whose ears had perked up at the mention of Chloe's name. "So what can we do to help?" 

"We need to find out what we were injected with," she said grimly. 

He nodded. "And once we've done that, then maybe we can Humpty-Dumpty you two back together again." 

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Queen, that better not have been a fat joke." 

Oliver choked on his laughter. "No, of course not, Sidekick. Where are you? We can be there in a few hours." 

"Sturgis, South Dakota." She frowned at the suppressed laughter she heard in his voice. 

"AC's going to love this place," Oliver replied and looked at his friend. "They got a lot of fresh water fishing out there?" He ignored Aquaman's heated glare. 

"Ha ha. Just get here. And try to hurry. We're all pretty freaked out." Her voice grew serious. 

"Sure thing. Sit tight and keep the Winchesters calm. The last thing we need is Dean going off half-cocked to do something stupid." He glanced at Clark Kent and smiled. Finally, the two men had something in common besides Chloe Sullivan. 

&&&&&

Chloe lay the large bed, her back against the headboard. One hand rested lightly against her stomach. No. Against Sarah's stomach. Biting her lower lip, she shut her eyes. Her stomach growled hungrily and she grimaced. "It's okay, little one," she murmured. "Mommy and Daddy went to get you food. Your real mommy, that is." 

Dean sat on the other side of the room and watched Chloe... in Sarah's body... talking to his brother's child. His head throbbed from lack of sleep, bloodshot eyes straying to focus on anything in the room so he wouldn't have to think about what was really his life at the moment. "Baby's... hungry?" he grumbled. 

"I...don't know. I'm just guessing. Because I am. Well, Sarah is. Whatever." She sighed softly. 

He fisted his hands and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I can't believe... this isn't happening." He eyed Chloe and smirked. "I keep wanting to call you Sarah." 

She rolled her eyes. "And Sam keeps calling her Chloe. This is beyond weird." 

He shot out of the chair. "Weird? Fucked up in the wrong kind of way is more like it." He moved around the room, pacing, as if that could cool his brain for more than five seconds.

Especially since, as he thought about it, if the demon was behind this, why would it bother screwing with them? For fun? Was there a bigger picture they weren't getting? "Why do I feel like the guy from Planet of the Apes?" he wondered out loud. 

She sighed softly, wishing the League would arrive soon. Before they all went crazy. "Have you ever dealt with anything like this before?" 

"No, Chloe. We haven't. There's nothing in Dad's journal, Sam's research has been spotty at best. Hell, we stayed up the rest of the night trying to figure out how you and Sarah switched bodies. Demon aside, how did it happen?" More frantic pacing and not looking at his sister-in-law's face. 

She flinched and looked down at her stomach, her eyes tearing up involuntarily. "You could be a little nicer." 

The warble in her tone stopped in cold in his tracks. "Sorry, I'm..." He blew out a breath. "Is there anything I can get you?" Dean wondered, if this was the hormones talking, how Sam could stand it. 

She sniffed a little and didn't look up. "No." 

He grabbed the tissue box from he nightstand and gingerly sat down on the bed next to her. "Here," he said firmly and held the box in front of her. "You're probably jacked up on pregnant hormones." 

"Good guess," she mumbled, taking one of the Kleenex and wiping the tears from her eyes. 

Dean watched her dab at her eyes and then looked down. He was kind of used to seeing Sarah like this: she was, after all, a hormonal time bomb. However, nine times out of ten she had kept it to herself and didn't let it interfere with the things she did to help them. Almost like she was trying to accept the abnormal life they'd dragged her into.

Just like Chloe.

He reached out to take her hand, then froze. "How's it feel?" he asked quietly, his hand falling onto the bed. 

"Being pregnant?" she asked, her voice quiet. 

"No, being trapped in someone else's body," he snapped irritably. "Yes, being pregnant." 

She shot him a glare. "You know, you're not the only one freaked out here, okay? I'm stuck inside my best friend's pregnant body! I'm sort of afraid to move because I'm afraid I'll hurt the baby!" 

"And I can't touch you or even comfort you because I know the second Sam sees that he'll kick my happy ass clear into Montana!" He yanked himself off the bed and smashed his fist into the wall. 

She flinched at his action. "Why do you always do that?" 

He sighed and touched his forehead to the wall. His hand hurt but wasn't broken. Not like the rest of him. "Always do what?" he rasped harshly. 

"Hit the wall when you're pissed." 

He closed his eyes and became very still. The anger bubbled close to the surface but he beat it down. The problem was, this was more than anger. This was fear, he realized. Mind-numbing fear, paralyzing him. Fear that Chloe and Sarah were hurt, fear of the unknown. It was something he couldn't think of feeling. "I'm violent, Chloe. Didn't you get the memo?" 

She looked away, shutting her eyes and leaning back against the headboard once more. "Are you hurt?" she whispered. 

"No." Yes. 

She sighed heavily. "You know I heard that. Lemme see your hand." 

He turned and propped himself against the wall. "My hand's fine, Sar-- Chlo." He winced as he caught himself. 

"Just let me see it." She held her hand out to him. 

If he didn't know Chloe Sullivan, Dean would have assumed he was talking to Sarah. It was Sarah's face he looked at, her voice he heard, but Chloe's words. That was his only connection to her at this point. "Fine," he grumbled and closed the distance between them. He held out his hand, palm up, and flinched when unfamiliar fingers touched his skin. 

"You need ice," she murmured, looking up at him with concern. 

"I'll go get it." He stood and moved towards the door. "You just... stay there." 

"Yeah. Okay." She watched him go, feeling utterly dejected even though she knew it was irrational. 

Dean rubbed his face as he shut the door and didn't bother looking around as he headed for the ice machine. He didn't see, then, that the entire Justice League had arrived, or that Jo had just walked out her door and started at the group of men who had stopped outside his door.

Oliver looked around at the others and frowned. "Just be prepared. Chloe's literally not herself." He had seen Dean leave and knew things were much worse than she'd led on. He gently rapped on the door. 

"It's open," Chloe said, sighing. 

Oliver opened the door carefully and walked in. Sarah Blake was propped up on the bed, her eyes closed and her face mournful. A smile tugged at his lips. "Chloe?" 

"Hey at least someone remembers," she grumbled. 

He chuckled and let the others inside the tiny room. "Maybe because you told me to expect this."

"Whoa, Chloe?" Clark asked in amazement. "I know Oliver filled us in on the situation but... Chloe?" 

"Hey, Clark," she said softly, looking over at him and managing a faint, tiny smile. 

"What's happened to my Chlolicious?" Bart mourned in the corner, his eyes sweeping the room for her. The fastest man in the world, and he couldn't even change them back.

"Sorry I brought the whole motley crew, but I figured they could help. Maybe. Somehow." Oliver looked at the rest of them and smiled sheepishly.

Suddenly Jo burst through the door. "Hey! Who the hell are you?!" 

Chloe's eyes widened at the sight of the shotgun in the other girl's hands. "Jo, relax. They're...friends of mine." 

The girl slowly put the gun down and took her finger off the trigger. She eyed the five men of various sizes and shapes, though the leader, the blonde-headed Adonis, looked the most interesting.

Oliver smiled at her attention. "Hey, you must be the sidekick's sidekick." 

Jo smirked. "I'm no one's sidekick." 

Chloe suppressed a smile at Jo's obvious interest in Oliver. 

Oliver crossed his arms and looked at her carefully, his face unusually animated. "Then what's with the gun? It's bigger than you are." 

"I'm a demon hunter," she informed him, eyeing him. "What do you do?" 

"Jo, this is Oliver Queen. Oliver, meet Jo Harvelle." She grinned. 

"Awfully pretty to be a demon hunter," Ollie replied and offered his hand in greeting. "I thought most hunters looked like Dean and Sam." 

A short laugh escaped her and she shook his hand, barely noticing the other guys behind him. 

Victor smirked and looked at Chloe, then AC, amused. 

At that moment Dean walked through the door with a bucket of ice in his good hand. His eyes, dark and troubled, gave the room a once-over. "'Bout time you got here," he said pointedly to Ollie.

"Dean... Hey, it's not my fault this time. Blame it on AC. He was up in arms thinking this place really butchers sturgeon." He gave Arthur Curry a look. 

"Don't make fun of me," AC warned, shooting him a warning look. 

Chloe moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Okay, can we get started? I'm rather anxious to get back into my own body as soon as possible." 

"That makes two of us," Dean whispered under his breath.

Oliver noticed Jo's eyes go a little wide and frowned. "Where's Chlo-- I mean, Sarah?" 

"She and Sam went to get food," she said quickly, rising to her feet. "They should be back soon." 

He nodded. "Okay, we'll take a sample of her blood when she gets here, then. In the meantime..." He stepped back and Victor produced a small silver case.

"Let me guess," Dean remarked casually. "A walking, talking, motion-sensory Medivac team?"

"Funny, Dean, but no," Oliver remarked with an amused glance at the other man. "It's just a small kit I keep stashed on the plane when I need to test things, like blood." 

Chloe stuck her arm out without hesitation, a grim expression on her face. 

Jo grimaced a little and shifted her gaze back to Oliver. 

"You want someone to hold your hand, Chlolicious?" Bart offered with a grin. 

"Bart, don't make me want to punch something with my workable hand," Dean growled.

Clark laughed. "Please, like you could catch him."

 _He's next, Chloe, I swear to God,_ Dean thought as he glared menacingly at Clark. Bart's flirtation he could handle. It was, after all, harmless. Clark, on the other hand, was a different story. He still felt a little too edgy around the guy. His history with Chloe seemed to be number two on a growing list of weaknesses. 

_Relax, Dean,_ she thought, wincing a little as Oliver stuck the needle in her arm and withdrew some blood. _Clark isn't a threat to you. You know that._

He felt her pain and scowled. Deep down inside, he didn't know. That was the problem. Like something inside him refused to believe Chloe would choose a nobody like him over a guy who could literally leap buildings in a single bound.

The blood flowed easily, and Oliver was careful to close the tiny pinprick with cotton as soon as he was finished. He removed the needle and handed the full vial of blood to Victor, who labeled it and put it in the silver case. "There, that's finished," he said finally. "Is there something specific we should look for?" 

She hesitated a moment. "Meteor rock." She didn't look at Dean. 

"Meteor rock?" Sam's voice echoed throughout the room as he met Dean's equally confused eyes. He looked down at Sarah, despite her Chloe-like appearance, and frowned. "What makes you think it's meteor rock?" 

She turned, startled to see Sam and Sarah come through the door without warning. "Just a theory." She met Sam's eyes for a moment, then looked at Oliver. "We all know the demon is working with Lex, and what does Lex know more about than anything?" 

"Meteor rocks," Victor grumbled. "Great." 

AC frowned and looked deeply disturbed. "This dude needs to be taken down. Now."

Dean gave the man a strange look but nodded. "It figures. The two most evil monsters in the world, swapping stories and weapons. It's fun and hijinks all around."

Oliver turned to Sarah and smiled gently, despite the need to laugh at the situation. "Sarah, I need to take a blood sample."

Sarah nodded and moved into the room and sat down in a chair. She plunked her arm down and looked at the other men. "Let's get this over with." 

"This is so weird," Bart murmured, staring at Sarah in Chloe's body, and then looking at Chloe in Sarah's body. 

Chloe rolled her eyes. 

Jo leaned against the doorframe, falling silent as she took in everything going on. 

Sarah shot her head up and gave Bart a warning look. "Don't think just because Chloe's in my body that you're going to get anywhere. Not going to happen."

Dean rubbed his good hand over his face and realized his other one was actually throbbing with pain. He said nothing as he slipped into the bathroom to wrap his hand. She stepped away from the group and ducked into the bathroom as well. Dean felt her presence even before she walked into the bathroom. His shoulders were hunched over as he focused on wrapping his hand. "I'm fine," he muttered. 

"Let me do that," she said softly, reaching out to him. 

He turned around and gazed into greenish-blue eyes. Eyes that should have been iridescent green. He held out his hand, though, a sense of longing in his eyes for her touch. 

She gently took his hand and continued to wrap it, her touch light and quick. "I know this is weird," she whispered. "But it's still me, Dean." 

His bottom lip trembled ever so slightly but he hoped she hadn't noticed. He knew it was her, deep in the recesses of his heart. What pained him the most, however, was why this had to happen to her. To Sarah. The two people he and Sam cared about more than anyone else outside of their family. "It's not fair," he said almost inaudibly, his eyes watching her deft movements. 

"When have any of our lives ever been fair?" Her voice was quiet. 

"It's never been fair, but that's beside the point." 

She finished wrapping his hand, holding onto it a moment longer. 

"All I want to do is take Jo back to Ellen, hunt down Lex Luthor and make him pay for what he did to you, and take down that yellow-eyed son of a bitch who started it all." He pulled his hand away and looked at her. 

She gazed at him for a moment. "I know you do. And we will. When the time is right." 

His jaw ticked and he stood up. "Come on, let's make sure Bart's not hitting on your body." 

A smile tugged at her lips and she followed him out of the bathroom once more, moving to sit down on the bed. She noticed Bart was gone, as well as the silver box. "I'm guessing he ran to the nearest Queen Lab?" 

Ollie turned his attention from Jo and looked at her. "Yes, in fact he insisted he take it himself. Guess he wants you back as much as the rest of us." He looked around the small, dingy hotel room. "In the meantime, come with me and I'll get you set up in better digs. With Chl-- Sarah being pregnant, it'd be good to be surrounded by peace and beauty."

Dean couldn't argue with that, especially since Chloe currently inhabited Sarah's body. He winced nonetheless at Oliver's remark, a reminder of what he could never provide for Chloe. For any of them. 

Chloe offered him a small smile and glanced at Sarah and Sam. "I'm actually comfortable here unless you guys wanna move?" 

"We were more or less just passing through on our way to Bobby's," Sarah replied and smiled at Sam. "So I'm good staying here." He threw Oliver an apologetic smile. 

"How long will it take at the lab?" Chloe asked anxiously, looking at Oliver. 

Oliver looked at his watch. "Knowing Bart, he's probably charmed the techs into testing the blood now. Give it a couple hours? I'll call you when we hear something." He snuck a glance at Jo, still trying to hide herself against the doorframe, separated from the rest of the group. "I assume you'll be around, too?"

Dean rolled his eyes. 

Jo smiled at him. "Unless you'd rather me come along with you." 

Chloe stifled a laugh, pretending to cough as she looked at Dean. 

Oliver couldn't bite back his winning grin. "If you have any dirt on these two guys," he indicated to Dean and Sam, "then I'd love to have you around."

Victor's eyes widened and he made a sound. "Ollie's trying to get his freak on." He looked at Clark and AC and they chuckled. 

_He's not the only one,_ Chloe thought with amusement, raising her eyebrows at Jo's smile. 

"She is cute," AC murmured just loud enough for Clark to hear. 

"And I think Oliver's got it covered," Clark remarked quietly. He ignored the warning look Oliver shot them.

Dean raised his eyebrows in sheer curiosity. What in the world did this billionaire saving-the-world dude see in Jo?

Oliver cleared his throat. "Anyway, we'll be back soon." He nodded at the Winchesters, Chloe, and Sarah before stepping back to let Jo pass. 

She flashed him a smile and led the way out the door, leaving Oliver, Victor and AC to follow her. Clark, however, hung back. 

Chloe shifted her gaze to Sarah. 

She nodded and looked at the Winchesters. "Come on, you can help me get the food from the car." She saw Dean open his mouth to protest and gave him a look. 

He turned an empty gaze on the pregnant woman -- his Chloe -- and looked away. In a second he was out the door and heading for the Impala.

"We'll be right back," Sarah replied with a quick look at Clark. 

Chloe sighed softly, watching them leave the room before she shifted her gaze to Clark. "What's up?" 

Looking a little embarrassed, Clark looked down, his azure eyes slightly troubled. "Are you okay?" he whispered. The thought that she might be suffering bothered him more than usual, it seemed. 

"Well, I'm not too thrilled to find myself pregnant with another couple's baby, but all in all I'm doing all right." She offered him a wry grin. 

He looked up and smiled. That was definitely his Chloe, he realized, despite the fact that he was looking at Sarah. "Glad to see you're taking it in stride." He stiffened for a second when he realized where his thoughts were going. 

"Not much else I can do under the circumstances," she pointed out with a shrug, not noticing his strange expression. 

Clark tried to move his legs, to remove himself physically from the room, but he remained rooted to the spot. "So, anything I can get you while..." He motioned towards the outside and swallowed hard. 

"No, I'm good, Clark. Thanks." She offered him a small smile. "How are things in Metropolis and Smallville? How's Lana?" 

He flinched at that name. "Actually? I don't know." 

Chloe's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean you don't know?" 

"I mean... I don't know. I haven't been in Smallville much lately, and since she married Lex..." 

She stared at him, her face paling. "What? She married Lex even after everything she knew about him?" 

Clark looked at his hands carefully. "She married him... because I... I finally told her, Chloe." 

Her head was starting to ache. "You told her about who you are?" she asked softly. "And she didn't take it well?" 

He sensed her pain and looked up. "It's a long story, and I don't want to burden you with it... not when you're... not yourself." He offered her a shy smile and looked at the door.

Dean walked inside carrying a sack of food in his good hand and was worried at the look on Clark's face. His initial instinct was to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, but instead he put the bag down. "Dude, you okay?"

Clark nodded mutely. 

Chloe frowned deeply, worry in her eyes as she gazed at Clark. She slowly looked up at Dean. 

"Chloe, I'll see you later, okay? Maybe we can talk after..." He glanced at Dean, who was watching him with a great deal of interest. Without saying another word, he supersped out the door and off into the neighboring city, where the rest of the league was waiting for him.

Sarah felt a brush against her cheek when she and Sam walked through the door and looked around. "What was that?" she asked. 

"Clark making one of his grand exits," she said wryly, tucking a strand of Sarah's dark hair behind her ear. 

Sam shifted his gaze Dean, looking at him with a neutral expression. 

Dean shrugged his shoulders and shut off his thoughts. "Speedy Gonzales couldn't handle being in the same room with me, what can I say?" 

"Well he knows he doesn't compare," Chloe said with a smile. 

Dean gave her a heated look and smirked, though in the deepest recesses of his mind, he had serious doubts about Clark.

Sarah shoved her hands in her pockets and looked at everyone. "So who's hungry? I'm starving." 

"God yes," Chloe grumbled. "Tell me there's chocolate in that big somewhere." 

Sam chuckled and looked at Sarah. "Well since Sarah's been craving it, we figured you would be too." He pulled out a bag of chocolate chocolate-chip cookies. 

A look of despair crossed Sarah's eyes for a split second before she looked back at Chloe and grinned. "Don't be surprised if you polish off the whole bag. Ask Sam: he's seen me do it more than once."

Dean cocked an eyebrow and sat down next to Chloe. "Not if I eat them first," he teased gently. 

"Hah. Try it, I dare you." She shot him a look that was half-teasing and half-warning as she reached for the bag. 

Sarah watched with glee as Dean grabbed the bag from her and held it over her head while tearing the bag open. He popped a couple in his mouth and moaned with the "yummy" sound. 

Chloe's eyes narrowed and she punched Dean hard in the arm and snatched the bag from him. 

"Ow!" he said loudly and clutched his arm in mock pain. "Anyone tell you that you get cranky when you're hungry?" He waggled his eyebrows at her without thinking.

"Dean," Sarah whispered quietly and looked down. 

Chloe smirked at him. "And you should know that by now considering we've been on the road together for what...almost a year?" 

Sam looked down, as well, feeling more than a tad uncomfortable. 

Dean scooted closer and grinned. "Well, you've never been pregnant before, so that changes the whole..." He stopped himself short when he realized what he was doing. He turned to Sarah and Sam, saw Chloe's body standing next to his brother, and paled considerably.

Sarah blanched in discomfort and almost grabbed Sam's hand, but she thought better of it. She knew he was just as uncomfortable with this situation.

"I'm going to see if Oliver's got some answers yet," Dean said under his breath and practically ran next door without waiting for a response. 

Chloe looked down at the floor guiltily as she nibbled on a cookie, a wave of depression washing over her as she blocked all of them from her mind. 

Sarah attempted to smile and shake it off, but she, like the rest of them, couldn't wait to be back in her body again. She reached out and touched Chloe's hand -- felt strange that it was actually her hand -- and squeezed it gently. "What kind of sandwich do you want?" she whispered and glanced back at Sam, pleading silently with him. 

"Doesn't matter," she murmured, shrugging a little. "Ham and cheese is fine." 

"Sam?" Sarah looked at her husband with the eyes of his friend. 

"One ham and cheese. Got it." He turned away, setting the stuff out on the table as he started to make her a sandwich. 

Sarah turned her back on Sam to look at Chloe. Her eyes were downcast and scared. "Hopefully Ollie'll have some answers soon, Chlo," she whispered. 

"I know." She prayed to God Sarah was right. Because she wasn't sure how much more the four of them could deal with. 

She sighed and looked away. "I know Dean's upset. Believe me, Sam's pretty freaked out. He kept calling me 'Chloe' and it's too much for us to even... hold hands." Her voice warbled just a little but she forced herself to keep it in. "But he's going to be okay." 

She nodded slightly, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly. "Oliver will find a cure." 

"Yes, he will," she whispered, the words repeating in her brain like a manta. They had to get back into their bodies. They had to keep it together for their men. They had to know what did this to them. And her heart sank when she realized it was probably the demon. The one who took away everything Sam and Dean loved. The thing who nearly took them away in Illinois. She shuddered at her thoughts. 

"Here you go, Chloe." Sam held a sandwich out to her and she took it with a soft murmur of thanks, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. 

Minutes dragged by before Dean appeared in the doorway, eyes shining with determination. "Let's go," he said. "Oliver's got something." He grabbed the keys and headed out the front door. 

Chloe stood up quickly, grabbing her purse off the bed and heading out the door without hesitation, taking another bite of the sandwich on her way. 

Sarah hesitated for a moment as she watched the others go. "Sam?" she whispered. 

Sam looked at her, trying to smile and not quite managing it. "Come on. Let's go." 

She looked down tearfully as she passed through the door. _I don't know what I'm going to do if I can't get back into my body,_ she thought. 

_Don't think like that,_ Sam thought back, hesitantly touching her arm. _We're gonna get you back to normal in no time._

She leaned briefly into his touch before pulling away. _We might have to,_ she thought and slid into the backseat of the Impala. 

_We will, Sarah,_ he vowed silently. _I don't know how yet, but I promise we will._

"If you two are done with the non-verbals?" Dean demanded and glared at Sam. 

Chloe sighed softly and slid her seatbelt on as she sat in the passenger seat. "Let's go." 

Dean didn't hesitate. He started the Impala and pounded on the gas. As they sped out of the parking lot, he could only think of one thing: finding the thing that was screwing with his family and taking joy in destroying it. 

&&&&&

"Tell me you know what's going on." Chloe looked at Oliver as she walked into his hotel suite and headed for the large, comfy looking couch. 

"I think we do," Oliver announced and produced a file folder. He gazed at the four of them and wondered if they were prepared to listen to what his scientists found.

When the blonde didn't speak, Dean barked, "Come on, Queen, tell us."

"We found traces of meteor rock in the womens' bloodstream." 

Chloe tensed a little and looked down at the floor, trying to maintain control of the sudden flood of anger she felt toward Lex Luthor. 

"How bad is it?" Sam asked hesitantly. "We can switch them back, right?" 

Oliver swallowed hard and glanced at the file. "Actually, we think this will wear off on its own."

Sarah blinked back the tears and looked at him. "How do you know?"

"We divided your blood into three different samples and tested them at thirty minute intervals. The tests showed a slight decrease in the level of meteor rock in your blood."

Chloe rose to her feet and moved over to look out the window, forcing herself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. 

Bart grimaced. "Don't worry, Chlo. You'll be back to your gorgeous self in no time." He looked at Sarah with wide eyes. "Not that you're not beautiful. I have a thing for blondes." 

Sarah smiled wryly. "Good thing I have a thing for tall, muscular brunettes," she replied and looked at Sam, who was obviously biting back a grin.

"Not that this isn't good news," Dean interrupted, "but this more or less confirms that Luthor's behind this, doesn't it?" He looked around the room, impatient for an answer.

Clark nodded slightly. "It seems that way. He's always had an obsession about utilizing the meteor rock for..." He glanced at Chloe "... his own purposes." 

Her jaw tightened a little more. "Yeah well that's gonna come to an abrupt end very soon." She didn't look at anyone, her words flat, matter-of-fact. 

Sam looked at her with worry in his eyes, then shifted his gaze to Dean. 

"Chlo," Dean said and stood up, his long legs quickly closing the distance between them, "we're going to deal with Luthor soon enough. But you know as well as I how hard it is to get to that man."

"No, she's right," Sarah replied with a tough of impatience in her voice, "that man's working with the demon, guys. He needs to be shot like a lame dog." 

Sam shook his head. "The two of you were the ones who refused just that not that long ago," he pointed out. 

Victor frowned. "We're talking about murder." 

"And you think Lex would hesitate to kill any one of us in this room if he had the chance?" Chloe asked harshly. 

"That still doesn't give us the right to flat out kill the bastard," Oliver pointed out with a deep frown. He wondered suddenly why Chloe and Sarah had been chosen for the body swap.

"The hell it doesn't," Sarah snapped and glared at Sam and Oliver. "Not too long ago that... monster... nearly killed Chloe, and if it hadn't been for Sam and Dean, she'd be dead. And don't get me started on what the demonic side of that partnership has in store for us." She felt anger stab her and she winced. 

Chloe folded her arms across her chest. "I think it's time to face the fact that this isn't just a battle." She looked around. "We're at war. And what we stand to lose--is everything.”

Bart swallowed hard, not used to hearing Chloe talk that way. 

Clark's mouth dropped open in shock for a second. They had been successful in eliminating several 33.1 plants around the world, but it seemed Lex really did have unlimited funds to do what he wanted with them. The fact that he kidnapped Chloe bothered him to no end.

"I second that," Sarah replied and looked at Sam directly. "I'm not going to sit back and let them kill our family and friends."

Dean was quiet, retreating from Chloe and into his own mind. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine, you agree finally this dude needs to be smacked into the next century. Still doesn't answer the question what injected you two or why." 

"What has Lex been up to?" she asked, looking at Oliver uncertainly. 

"More of the usual," Bart grumbled. 

"Yeah, plus that unknown project," Victor said, glancing at Clark. 

Dean and Sam whipped their heads around to face the member of the Justice League. "What unknown project?" Sam demanded quietly. 

"We're not exactly sure," Bart said, folding his arms across his chest. "But for once it doesn't involve human experimentation or meteor rocks." 

Dean glanced at Sam meaningfully. "That doesn't mean he's not up to no good."

"What have you found out about this other project?" Sarah asked Victor. 

"Not much." He was grim. "Luthor's figured out how easy it is for us to hack his electronic security systems, so he's using other methods now as well." 

She blanched. "Like what?" Her hands fluttered to her stomach and she flinched when she remembered where she was. Her eyes drifted to Sam.

"He's been setting up more firewalls than we can crack," Oliver informed them flatly. "And some of them even go so far as to track where we are." 

Chloe shut her eyes, leaning against the window. 

"He's also got the place surrounded by green rocks," Bart said, glancing at Clark. 

Great, Dean thought. "So Speedy can't get in... why can't you?" He looked at Bart pointedly. 

"The floor's electrified," Bart said quietly, looking down. 

"Son of a bitch," Chloe muttered. "It's fucking Smallville all over again." 

Dean scowled at her words. "So is he fortifying his labs everywhere or in one place?" 

Victor looked at him solemnly. "Multiple places. At the same time." 

"So these are obviously places where the yellow-eyed demon's hanging out," Sam replied after a tense moment of silence. "That's got to be the case. Whatever Luthor's hiding, it's big."

Dean nodded. "As soon as Chloe and Sarah are in their right bodies, we're taking Jo home and going to Bobby's." 

Jo looked up, a frown on her face. "Don't worry about me." She glanced at Oliver. "I can make it from here." 

"Vampires?" Chloe pointed out. 

"We'll take care of her," Victor promised. 

Oliver looked at Jo and smiled a little. "She's in good hands."

Clark stifled a laugh. "Apparently in his," he whispered to Victor.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to stay here with... these guys?" 

"I'm good," Jo responded, gazing back at Ollie. 

AC started humming "Love is in the Air", which elicited snickering from Bart and Clark. Oliver glared at him and took a step away from Jo. "Keep it up, and I'll feed you to the sharks." 

"I can out swim them," he responded with a smirk. 

"Guys, more pressing things at hand here," Chloe said sharply, growing irritated at the lack of focus. 

"Look," Dean interrupted, "keep digging around. Try and find out everything you can about this other project. Hell, about anything you can get your hands on." He glanced at Chloe. "We're going back to the hotel to wait this out."

"You sure about that?" Oliver asked, looking concerned. "Nothing's certain about this theory. We could be wrong, for all we know."

"It's fine, Oliver," Sarah snapped, eyes flashing. "We'll be fine." 

"We appreciate your help," Chloe said tiredly, rubbing the back of her neck. 

"Anything for you, Chlo," Bart said softly, looking worried. 

Dean approached her and took her hand gently. He squeezed it gently when she tried to tug it away. "Take good care of Jo," he warned the rest of the group, "because if you do..."

"Yeah, we got it," Oliver replied with an amused smirk. "You'll kick our asses, right?"

"No, her mother will."

Sam covered his mouth and laughed hard. 

Chloe managed a faint smile as she gazed at Jo. "Thank you. You know...for everything." Her voice was quiet, sincere. 

She smiled in return. "Please call. If you need something." Jo looked at Dean and nodded simply.

He grinned back at her and thanked her inwardly for the gift of the Colt. That bullet was for that demonic bastard, he thought. Nothing was going to get in his way. 

&&&&&

"How much longer, do you think?" Dean asked impatiently, unable to stop looking at the two women. Nothing had happened in the last two hours, and frankly, he was becoming impatient.

Sarah, still firmly entrenched in Chloe's body, rolled her eyes. "Gee, Dean, didn't think you were that desperate." 

Sam smiled faintly and stared at the clock, feeling almost as impatient and anxious as his brother. "It's been almost twenty-four hours." 

"Pray twenty-four is the magic number," Chloe murmured tiredly. 

Sarah gave Sam a pointed look. "Yeah, you'll have us back in our regularly scheduled bodies in no time."

Dean frowned, his eyes shifting between Chloe and Sarah. If he didn't know any better, he'd say they were mad at them. 

_We're not mad,_ Chloe thought, shutting her eyes as she laid back on the bed. _Just tired, Dean._

He knew the feeling: endless days on the road, his small family being attacked more times than he cared to remember, Sam and his immense yet undiscussed powers. These were all beginning to take a toll on him. He slouched into a chair and shut his eyes. 

Blocking off her mind to everyone but Dean, she murmured warm thoughts of love against his mind, attempting to reassure him the best way she could. 

Sarah moved to Sam and wrapped her arms around him, her face fallen into misery. 

He sighed softly and rested his chin on top of her head, holding her loosely. 

A sudden pain tore through Chloe's head. "Oh God." She pressed a hand to her forehead. 

"Chloe?" Dean asked and looked up to see Sarah writhing in intense pain. He shot out of the chair and grabbed her in an attempt to keep her still.

About the same time, Sarah whipped her head back from Sam's chest, her face a mask of sheer pain. She felt like she was being ripped -- literally -- from her body. 

Chloe screamed at the pain, tears streaking down her cheeks as her back arched off the bed where Dean was trying to hold her still. 

And then everything grew dark. 

Dean held Sarah's body in his arms, startled by blind panic. He glanced over at Sam, whose face had fallen into confusion while he had caught Chloe's body from hitting the floor. "What the hell?" he demanded. "Oliver never said this was going to happen! Are they dead?" 

"No, Chloe's--Sarah's breathing," Sam murmured, carefully lowering her onto the mattress beside Dean and Chloe. 

All Sarah saw was darkness for a moment, followed by a blinding light. And intense pain as her essence funneled quickly into her body, the muscles and veins throbbing back a welcome. Just for a second, she swore she felt her son... their child... call out her name. She tried to open her eyes, despite the tears streaming down her face. 

"Sarah? Can you hear me?" Sam gently touched Chloe's cheek. 

She groaned, her body shuddering painfully as she gasped for air. 

"Sam," she whispered and reached out, touching nothing. The last thing she remembered was being in Sam's arms. She cracked open her eyes and saw him on the other side of the bed. How did he move?

Dean felt the woman in his arms shift and looked down. "Chloe?" he whispered. 

"Dean," Chloe murmured, turning her head toward the sound of his voice. 

"Sam," Sarah rasped, trying to get her husband's attention.

Dean looked down at Sarah and turned to Sam. "They're back," he mentioned to his brother. 

"Thank God." He smiled down at Chloe for a moment, then quickly changed places with Dean. "Sarah? You okay?" He helped her sit up slowly, keeping his arms around her for support. 

She tried to use her arms to hold her up but failed. "Yeah, considering I've just lived through a bad Star Trek episode." She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes, utterly exhausted.

"Chloe," Dean whispered and kissed her forehead gently. He brushed her pale blonde hair out of her eyes and looked into her exhausted emerald eyes. 

She managed a very faint smile. "Good to be back," she whispered. 

He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Good to have you back." He tightened his arms around her and cradled him against her chest. 

She slid her arms around him as tightly as she could manage, pressing her face against his neck and shutting her eyes tightly. 

"It's okay," he crooned against her hair and looked at Sam. "How's Sarah?" 

Sam held his wife gently, stroking her long, dark hair. "Exhausted," he murmured. 

"And hungry," she muttered, lips brushing against Sam's skin. 

He laughed softly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Let's get you some food then. What sounds good?" 

She felt her stomach growl angrily. "Anything with chocolate and pickles," she grimaced. Her hands fluttered down to her slightly rounded stomach and smiled peacefully. "Our boy's hungry."

Dean looked down at Chloe but chuckled. "You're having a boy?" 

"Pretty sure," Sam whispered, kissing Sarah's lips softly before rising to his feet. "I'll get some food." 

She lingered on his kiss, reluctant to let him go. "Hurry back, please?" 

"I will," he promised, tucking some hair behind her ear. 

She smiled and watched him leave, a tear slipping out of her eyes.

"Seriously," Dean said, looking at Sarah, "how do you know you're having a boy?"

She closed her eyes and smiled gently. "Because he said my name when I re-entered my body." 

Chloe smiled a little, her breathing still a little ragged. "Cool." 

"What can I get you, Chloe?" Dean asked in her ear, his mind attuned to hers as he sent her messages of love to her. 

_A month's worth of sleep,_ she joked inwardly, resting her head against his collarbone. 

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head again. "I wish. We've got to get rid of Luthor first."

"I second that," Sarah muttered quietly. "That man deserves to be wiped from the face of the earth." She rubbed her stomach wearily and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. 

"Are you okay?" Chloe turned her head to look at her friend, worry in her eyes. 

Sarah's eyes slid to see the familiar face of her friend and nearly wept with joy. "Just glad to be back where I belong," she whispered. "Thank you for taking care of our son." 

She managed a faint smile, tears prickling at her eyes involuntarily. "Of course." 

They fell into an easy yet strange silence while Dean waited for Sam to return. He'd shot another question to Chloe mentally, but all she did was nod and cling to the front of his shirt, like she never wanted to be parted from him. He grimaced and shut his eyes against the onslaught of emotions flickering through his mind. It was the last thing he wanted to deal with. 

Sensing how close he was to sensory overload, she slowly pulled away, and slid off the bed, swaying a little as she realized her balance wasn't quite steady. 

"Whoa," Dean called as he grabbed Chloe's arm. "I don't think I gave you permission to leave just yet."

Sarah heard the door open and Sam appear. She smiled at him as her stomach growled impatiently. 

She leaned against him heavily for support, the color draining from her face. "Stood up way too fast." 

Sam gave Dean a worried look and quickly sat down beside Sarah, opening the bag of groceries he'd just picked up, which included chocolate ice cream, cookies, brownies, and a jar of dill pickles. 

Sarah grabbed the jar of pickles and opened it with a rough twist. She pulled one out and looked at Dean. "I think you should carry her next door, Dean. She looks like she's about to faint." She frowned in concern at Chloe.

"Think you're right, Sarah," he replied with a faint smirk. Nevertheless, he looked at Sam -- one that spoke volumes of pain -- before stooping to pick her up. 

"Dean, I'm okay," she protested. 

He smiled as he swooped her into his arms and held her firmly to his chest. "Come on, Chlo. Haven't been able to touch you in a day."

Swallowing a bit of pickle, Sarah glanced at Sam and blushed. 

He snorted softly, looking back at Sarah with amusement in his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

"Shut up, Sammy," Dean grunted as he headed for the door. "Don't think you haven't been thinking the same thing." 

Chloe smiled a bit, resting her head against Dean's collarbone as he carried her into the adjoining room. 

Sarah watched them pass through the adjoining door and sighed quietly. She was back, and she felt the familiar tug of pregnancy flash in her mind. She put down the pickle and shut her eyes. 

"Sarah? You all right?" Sam asked softly. 

"Sam," she whispered and looked at him intently. Thoughts of the ghostly children's' warning hung in her mind. We have to prepare, she thought.

He grew still as he gazed back at her with the same intensity. "I'm listening," he whispered. 

She touched his cheek gently, her eyes dark with concern and fear. "Those children in Illinois, when they told me..." She bit her lip and leaned into him. 

He waited for her to go on, gently tucking some hair behind her ear. 

"I think we need to find a way to protect our child." Her voice was small but steady. While she knew the warning applied to all of them, something in the back of her mind had started singing of ways to protect the baby. If anything, this body swapping incident had proven how vulnerable he was. 

Sam drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "What do you have in mind?" 

"I don't know, but once I'm rested, we should research." She blew out another breath and tried to prevent the dread from creeping into her heart.

Dean carefully laid Chloe down onto the bed once inside the other room and smiled as he lay down next to her. 

She curled up against him, closing her eyes. "Missed you," she murmured. 

"Missed you more," he muttered and kissed the nape of her neck. He inhaled her distinctly feminine scent but felt her stiffen against him. "What's wrong?" he asked sharply. 

She quickly rested a hand on his arm in an attempt to ease his anxiousness even as she pushed her own to the back of her mind. "Just worn out." 

"Okay. Get some sleep." He carefully pulled the blankets around them and pulled her against his chest to envelope her in the warmth of his body. 

"Dean?" she murmured, resting her forehead against his neck. 

He brushed his lips against her hair and smiled. "Yeah?" 

"I love you," she whispered. 

He tightened his hold on her. "I love you, too." More than she'd ever know, he thought as he drifted off into a peaceful slumber. 

She swallowed hard, lying awake in his arms as he slept and feeling distinctly unsettled, dread knotting her stomach. 

Something was wrong.


End file.
